Monday, August 24, 2009

Rocks and Shallows



Oil study on location, 9 x 12 inches on oil-primed masonite panel.

Previous GJ post: Color in Mountain Streams

14 comments:

Dan Gurney said...

I love these video lessons. Sort of like a painterly version of speed reading.

Beck said...

dude, you rock, as always. Got the drawing book and will start lessons with my kids. Thanks!

Tim said...

I love the foliage sound of the frogs there, nice touch James!
Your narrative and demo is great too. How on earth do do you have the time to do that other dinosaury stuff you do?

jesusest@gmail.com said...

I love the simplicity of your approach, are you premixing? or you do your mixing as you paint. I particularly like the way you did the rocks that are inside the water.thanks for this tips,they are very helpful

Kendra Melton said...

Great video! I've only been plein aire painting a handful of times and I was just curious if you use any medium? Also while you're out how do you go about cleaning your brushes?

Tim said...

Oh I forgot to ask, what oil primer do you use?

James Gurney said...

Thanks, folks!
Quick answers: I goof off on videos and such between 4 and 6 am when I can't sleep. These videos just take a few minutes to make in iMovie.

I use Gamblin oil prime (tinted with burnt sienna), Liquin and Gamblin Turps for mediums, and I do premix about four values of each of the principal colors.

Steve said...

Sorry to hear I'm not the only one afflicted with early morning wakefulness, Jim. You make much more productive use of the time...

We just returned from a trip to Lake Superior. I spent part of one afternoon trying to paint -- in watercolor -- a spot where a creek flows into the lake. If you ever do a watercolor plein air of flowing water I'd love to see it. It's frustrating trying to save white paper for the sparkles and reflected light. Winslow Homer wasn't above scraping with a knife to bring the white back, but being able to place with it brush, particularly when the bright spots are in a rippled pattern, would be much more satisfying. I've never cared for what white gouache does in those situations -- even when Homer used it.

Bira said...

James, I'm a brazilian cartoonist and your fan a long tome... your work is so fantastic that I surelly would put you between Da Vinci and Michelangelo!
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!
Best wishes from Brazil

innisart said...

Dang. So beautiful.

James Gurney said...

That's really nice of you, Bira! If you put me between Da Vinci and Michelangelo, I'd better learn to speak Italian.

Unknown said...

Amazing!! Water seems so real...

Jared said...

Was it four hours outside, solid? What do you do about changing light?

Or do you do studies (color and sketches, snap a photo) outside and then spend four hours in the studio? What's your strategy?

James Gurney said...

Jared, It was four hours solid, except a 15 minute break when Jeanette brought me a tomato and cheese sandwich (thanks, Jeanette!).

The light didn't change much because it was cloudy most of the time. The direct sun only came out briefly. I don't work on location studies back in the studio mainly because I've moved on from the energy of the moment, and the photos are too disappointing. If I needed more time, I'd return to the location the next day at the same time.